1. Technical Field
The disclosed embodiments relate to advertisements (ads) on mobile devices, and more particularly, to ads served to mobile devices using integrations of ad position within applications through which the ads are displayed.
2. Related Art
Advertising on the internet has been historically tied to content. Advertisements (“ads”) are displayed on specific web pages. Monetization of those ads typically involves and benefits the publisher of content displayed as part of a web page on a mobile device. This model has worked well on the personal computer because there is adequate real-estate or display area on a personal computer screen as part of the content for insertion of the ads, e.g., within the web page of the browser used to display the content. Additionally, the content publisher usually provides key content (and possibly user) data to ensure good targeting of the ads. Targeting of ads involves the gathering and tracking of personal user information and browsing behavior of particular searchers with which advertising is custom-fit to those particular people.
However, the service of ads to mobile devices varies in significant ways. Given the small size of most mobile device screens, there is limited space for the content to share with ads. This often results in unsatisfactory viewing experiences by searchers, which significantly diminishes advertising results for advertisers. For example, an advertiser may insert ads at the end of a short messaging service (SMS) message. SMS messages, however, have a fixed maximum length and this technique depends on adequate space, e.g., a certain number of characters, being left over for the ad to be inserted for display.
There also exists a lack of adequate context in the mobile devices advertising arena to improve targeting of ads to particular users. For example, an e-mail or SMS message may provide very little value for targeting to commercial ad categories. This is because every day messages are very personal and do not necessarily have a commercial context. In contrast, a web browser on a computer, for instance, has as one of its primary purposes the access by users to commercial information and purchasing opportunities. With cookies, internet protocol (I.P.) address resolution, the ability to track clicks, etc., the web browser of a personal computer is a useful tool for tracking commercial-related information of a user. These abilities are not integrated within a mobile device, and therefore, the ability to track a user's commercial-related behavior and interests is more difficult.
It is also known to stream advertisements through a client window displayed on a personal computer and to provide a user interface controls for interaction therewith. This client window is not fixed but is movable by the user to various positions within the computer's screen. The client window also is not integrated within a specific application, although interaction with the client window may cause a linking action that causes a web browser of the computer to go to a website of an advertiser.